The son of a welder from rural New England, ROD PICOTT is a masterful songwriter and soulful singer who carries with him as fine a suitcase of songs as you’ll find anywhere. Slaid Cleaves, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Fred Eaglesmith have recorded Rod Picott songs. A former construction worker who hung up his tools when he released his debut CD in 2000, Picott has carved a career for himself with a run of 6 beautifully crafted self released CDs over the last 13 years and a well earned reputation as a engaging, emotion fueled performer.
Hang Your Hopes On Crooked Nail, produced by RS Field [Billy Joe Shaver, Justin Townes Earle, Hayes Carll] is a collection of carefully crafted songs of rugged truth and beauty. Recorded at Joe Pisapia’s [KD Lang, Guster] Middletree Studios in East Nashville the CD highlights Picott’s particular gift for exploring complex themes in common language. The eleven songs on Hang Your Hopes On a Crooked Nail offer an unblinking albeit wry gaze into our common heart and a clenched fist of defiance against the trials that tear at our humanity.

“Accept Rod Picott for what he is; Americana of the highest order”    Julian Piper/ Acoustic Magazine

“Gems that finely balance despair, desire and optimism with dexterity    Arthur Wood/Maverick Magazine

“Hangdog lyrics and deadpan delivery have the ability to strike a chord with anyone who has a heart.”    Alison Stokes/Country Music People

2016 Kerrville New Folk winner BEN DE LA COUR has lived a different kind of life.

After growing up in Brooklyn, he set out to see the world as an amateur boxer, bartender, janitor and agricultural worker in Havana, London, Los Angeles and New Orleans before settling in Nashville. Influenced as much by giants such as Townes Van Zandt and Warren Zevon as by Nick Cave and The Gun Club, Ben de la Cour has managed to meld all of these influences into a uniquely modern, haunting and sometimes darkly humorous sound that is all his own.

“Ben de la Cour’s songs are brimming with urgent authenticity. There is thematic hardness and vulnerability throughout, but what distinguishes de la Cour’s songs from lesser guitar-and-anguished-vocals hacks is the raw humanity of his delivery and the potency of his way with words.” (No Depression)

In 2016 Ben de la Cour released ‘Midnight in Havana’, eleven tightly crafted songs of what he likes to refer to as “Americanoir”. Tales of substance abuse, murder and mental illness sit in perfect juxtaposition with occasional moments of playful lightheartedness and the ever-present glimmer of hope. However, upon closer inspection, darkness almost always wins…an unlikely hero, but one that suits de la Cour.

“Ben de la Cour bleeds the songs he sings. Within the understated instrumentation and de la Cour’s baritone voice lie stark, haunting songscapes: moody recollections that recount the journey of a life that is not always pretty, but proves better than one of mundane predictability.” (Turnstyled, Junkpiled)

“Ben de la Cour is a folk musician with the songwriting acumen of a young Nick Cave and the lyrical wisdom of a vitriolic Leonard Cohen. His songs are stark, melancholic and packed with emotion and will send you collectively weak at the knees.” (Fresh Deer Meat)

Please call to reserve at 920-563-9391.